What Can I Do With My Wedding Rings?

[Perriwinkles]

I am separated. I loved my engagement and wedding ring. They have been in a box for a couple of years. I don't want to wear them on my right hand as they scream 'engagement and wedding rings' but I wish I could do something with them. I just don't know where to start.

Does anyone have any ideas?

I've come a long way and am in a place where I'm honouring what was (flawed as it was!); so I don't want to destroy them or get rid of them (I think!).

I'm open to any and all ideas.

Thanks in advance.

How many stones? Maybe some lovely screw back studs?

If it's a solitaire then a necklace? Or earrings if more than one stone!

@whistlers
The engagement ring is a solitaire...Is it possible to get diamonds dyed? Or am I just being crazy?

You could pay to have them made into something else, or sell them and buy something you like as a memory of the rings.

@brideyb
A necklace is a good idea for the diamond and I could use the ring itself for something else. Do jewellers do that kind of reconstruction work? I've a feeling they'd charge an arm and a leg for it...

Reworked & redesigned by a jeweller into something new as in a new beginning but still retaining the “material” as in the history from where it came....if you you know what I mean!? 🤔

You could get them reconfigured into a different design of ring. Then you could add coloured stones so they wouldn't shout 'wedding' ring.

@Perriwinkles you can't dye diamonds (that I know of)

Jewellers certainly do that kind of work, you could book an appointment with a designer and get them to show you some designs / options?

@DinosaurDiana
Thanks. Selling them and buying something else is probably what I'd like to (even though it'd sadden me) but I'm not sure where to sell and I've heard that the mark-down is enormous..but I'm pretty clueless. I enquired with a few local jewellers and they said they don't accept jewellery for resale.

Jewellers do this work. If you're using all the metal and stones it's not as expensive as you might think.

Ask for recommendations from local Facebook groups

A manufacturing jeweller or a silversmith can rework them for you. My mum inherited some dated jewellery - the resale value for secondhand jewellery is awful - so she had it remodelled into things she would actually wear.

I had a old engagement ring made into a pendant. I went to a little independent jeweller with a workshop, as I was supplying the gold and diamonds it cost me £50!

I did it as husband had ‘upgraded’ my engagement ring and The original had sentimental value despite not being wearable anymore.

I’ve also got a gold ring I designed myself when i was 21. It’s made from a piece of jeweller from each of my grandparents, all melted down to a new piece. I love it.

@Yellow85 thank you, that’s given me a wonderful idea - I’ve a ring from my Nanny with a band so fragile I don’t trust wearing it so was thinking about having it altered already, and I have a chain from my Grandma I can’t wear unless I have my hair severely pinned up so I’ll see if the two can be made into something new together!

@Slothkin here’s what I had made. Multiple different carats of gold so it’s a bit of a mush but it’s sentimental and has a nice backstory as all the old jewellery was unwearable off unfashionable! I also got some gold back which I’ll use for my kids and add some of my own gold.

Definitely speak to a local independent jeweller. They'll likely love the opportunity to create something, rather than just selling off the shelf pieces.

If you sell them you'll get bugger all and will end up buying something much smaller in exchange.

A jeweller will charge you for their time in making the new item (I would suggest another ring) but you won't have to pay for materials.

My DM did this with some inherited pieces from her DM. She'd have never worn them but now wears the new piece all the time.

@Yellow85 - your ring is gorgeous!

Thanks so much for your responses and ideas.

I LOVE your gold ring @Yellow85 Wow! It's amazing

@Perriwinkles thanks. I’ve always loved the old wishbone style but knew it would date so just put a slight twist on it. It was fun designing it. It’s 16 years old now and I still wear it 👌🏻

I think what I'd love to do is keep the original wedding ring, have the diamond from the engagement ring put on the wedding ring (as it's got some small diamonds on it) in a different setting to the engagement ring and get some coloured gemstones put around it. It might sounds crazy but once done, it could be nice?!

Then, I'll ask for advice about the white gold engagement ring...I could stick something else on to that...

I do agree that resale value is bad and it feels clinical and transactional to sell it. It feels more symbolic to change the ring because the marriage happened, I can't change that but I have changed since then and as such, the rings have changed. The marriage and separation cannot go away but I can assimilate it all into my experience...

Long way of saying I want a new pretty ring!

@Yellow85
It's stunning and looks great with the lilac nails, too!

Wow @Yellow85 that’s a beautiful ring!

[quote Yellow85]@Slothkin here’s what I had made. Multiple different carats of gold so it’s a bit of a mush but it’s sentimental and has a nice backstory as all the old jewellery was unwearable off unfashionable! I also got some gold back which I’ll use for my kids and add some of my own gold.[/quote]
That really is a lovely ring

There's a jeweller near my MILs that takes old rings and jewellery and turns them into 'legacy' rings - have a look here for some ideas of the designs and then for an independent jewellers near you to see if they could do something similar
www.facebook.com/christopherstonerjewellery

I got my grans diamond ring and her wedding ring made into a beautiful pendant. I worked with the jeweller to find a design that I loved.

I had some silver jewellery and a couple of tiny stud diamond earrings remodelled by a lovely lady called Ruth who set up Mayflower Jewellery - you can give her your vague ideas and she’ll discuss possible options, then do it! I posted my items to her (slightly terrifying, obviously paid for the special postage, but it was fine), so you don’t have to live near her.

She was great, really helpful, and now I wear these two items all the time. And the cost really wasn’t astronomical at all.

I am a jeweller and we sometimes do this kind of thing for inherited jewellery or styles that people prefer not to wear. I've got some jewellery of my DMs that I plan to remodel but havent got round to doing something for myself!

Sometimes its possible to use the gold, other times you can scrap it against the new piece (18ct gold scraps at around £30/g at the moment) A recent customer had a half eternity ring in 18ct that she wanted remounted in platinum so we took the old ring (metal - we reused the diamonds) for scrap and gave her credit against the new ring if that makes sense.
You cant dye diamonds but coloured stones are a lot cheaper in comparison.

I'm afraid the resale value is usually pretty low.